


Tied Together with a Scarf

by kranberry1997



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Angst with a Happy Ending, Eventual Romance, M/M, Red String of Fate, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-11
Updated: 2018-08-11
Packaged: 2019-06-25 17:21:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15645396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kranberry1997/pseuds/kranberry1997
Summary: As if coming out of a trance the two men started only now noticing how close they were. Without realizing it they had stepped chest to chest, just a breath of space between them. Their lips so close the slightest breeze would have pushed them to a chaste kiss. Their hands were almost touching while holding the scarf together. But at the sound of the young woman’s voice the men jumped away to suddenly, only to hear to late—RRRRIIIIIIPPPP





	Tied Together with a Scarf

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SheWhoWalksUnseen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SheWhoWalksUnseen/gifts).



> This is my piece for [areyouscarletcold](https://areyouscarletcold.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr for the ColdFlash Gift Exchange. First I want to apologize for my gift being late. The past few weeks my work became unexpectedly busy, along with problems with my personal WiFi connection, and setting up for my senior year at my university. 
> 
> For your gift I played around with combining two of your prompts. It's definitely set maybe 2-3 years before the start of the show, but I'd say its up to the reader if you feel it could work with Barry becoming the Flash or not. I wanted to play around with your soulmate theme and not have it be so direct in controlling their actions. Hopefully that's how it comes across. Having a journalism degree and not much experience with creative writing in general, let alone fanfiction, made it difficult to tell if I was being to subtle or not subtle enough. 
> 
> Without further adieu, I present you your exchange piece.  
> I hope you enjoy it!

The first time Leonard Snart met Barry Allen was just after pocketing a cartoonishly large, red scarf he was getting for Mick. The winter that year was supposed to be brutal and he wasn’t going to let his best friend catch a cold and kill himself. Len had enough to worry about Mick’s pyromania without allowing him to catch the hideout on fire because he was “cold”. Especially when Lisa was coming in that year for a visit.  
  
Of course he was too distracted by his thoughts, for as he began to turn away from the winter wear section a cough from behind caught his attention. Normally, he would have turned away, but something made him turn around. There behind him was a young man who looked more like a gangly teenager than the young, 20-something he was supposed to be. The stranger had the gall to scoff at Len as he crossed his lanky arms over his chest as if to appear intimidating. He wasn’t, but it was fun to see him try. His green eyes were narrowed into slits and lips were pursed as he appraised Len.  
  
“I hope you’re going to pay for that.” The stranger said. Len rolled his eyes. “You know, since that scarf didn’t make your basket I just want to make sure you’ll remember to take it out of your pocket. You don’t want to forget it before you get to the register.”  
  
“Of course, wouldn’t want to do that, would we, kid?” Len’s fist tightened around the handles of his basket with a few non-essential items to disguise the ones slipped in his pockets. He’s a professional thief, he normally wouldn’t even be caught by the security cameras, let alone the joke that the chain calls security officers, yet he’s caught by some punk kid.  
  
This kind of embarrassment would normally fill him with a white-hot rage. His over confidence had led to this kid catching him. While Len was feeling the fury, he couldn’t help but feel impressed by this kid.  
  
“I’m not a kid!” Green eyes snarled. Looks like Len touched on a tricky subject. Good to know, as he filed away the information for some unknown reason. He resisted the urge to shake his head to clear it and focused on green eyes. “I’m 22 and—I don’t know why I’m telling you that...”

Twenty-two, good to know. Len observed green eyes as he trailed off. His face turned an adorable shade of red. Len couldn’t help his lips as they turned up at the corners. He walked up to the kid while his eyes were turned down, stopping just a few inches away from him.  
  
“You got a name then kid?”  
  
“Of course I have a name, and I just told you not to—“ green eyes trailed off when he looked up, the spark returning back in his eyes before trailing off when realized how close they were. His face turned an even darker shade of red, his green eyes locked with Len’s icy blue ones.  
  
He reached into his own pocket pulling out the scarf. He glanced down at it, causing the young man in front of him to turn his eyes to the scarf as well.  
  
“...Scarlet.”  
  
“Wh-what?” Scarlet blinked. Len felt the corners of his mouth turn up again. This guy was cute. Len wondered if it was a little strange to feel so strongly for this man he just met, but he couldn’t help how it felt.  
  
“Didn’t tell me your name. Needed something to call you other than kid, so I made one up. Fits well don’t you think? Especially when that bright blush of yours turns the same color as this scarf...” Len accentuated his final point by holding up the scarf again to Scarlet’s face, prompting yet another deep blush to start to crawl across Scarlet’s cheeks and nose.  
  
“Oh my god. This is mortifying...but you haven’t offered your name either.”  
  
“True, but I asked you first.” Len paused for a second, appraising the man in front of him. He wasn’t sure why, but there was something about Scarlet that piqued his interest. Something that made him want to keep pushing his buttons. Scarlet was just so easy to tease, and riling the kid up was exhilarating in a way that Len had never felt before. Even his first heist hadn’t raised his heart rate and blood pressure the way talking to Scarlet did. He’d focus on figuring those emotions out later though, now he had to play the game.

 “But should I give my name to a complete stranger after watching him commit a crime?” Len’s eyes widened a fraction at Scarlet’s reply. So he did have some nerve. Good.

 “I suppose that’s true, if said stranger actually committed the alleged crime. Don’t see anyone conducting any nefarious deeds. Just a nosy guy interrupting an innocent customer during his shopping.” Len remarks with a wicked grin as Scarlet’s mouth drops open and he begins to flounder while trying to come up with a suitable response.

 “Barry?” A young woman’s voice calls out before Scarlet has a chance to form a coherent sentence. As if coming out of a trance the two men started only now noticing how close they were. Without realizing it they had stepped chest to chest, just a breath of space between them. Their lips so close the slightest breeze would have pushed them to a chaste kiss. Their hands were almost touching while holding the scarf together. But at the sound of the young woman’s voice the men jumped away to suddenly, only to hear to late—

  _RRRRIIIIIIPPPP_

—as the red scarf was torn in two, the spell from before was broken. They stare at the piece of cloth they were left holding in a stunned silence.  Looking up, Len noticed a bombshell of a woman, her dark skin warm and soft, gentle curls cascading around her head like an autumn breeze,  _that Lisa would appreciate_ his brain uselessly supplied,  had approached his and Scarlet’s little group. He deduced she was the woman who had interrupted… whatever he and Scarlet – _Barry –_ had been doing before. She stood close to Scarlet, putting a familiar hand on his arm and speaking to him.

Len couldn’t help but feel a pang in his chest at the sight for what he knew was no reason, he felt an inexplicable surge of rage and jealousy seeing the familiarity between the two of them. He wanted that with Scarlet. His sudden rage drowned out the conversation happening around him, the one between this girl and Scarlet – _Barry_ – only tuning in at hearing the young man in front of him apologize for breaking the scarf. He’s fairly certain an offer to buy a replacement was about to come, but he could only focus on getting away from the pair of lovebirds he was looking at.

“Don’t worry about it,” Len dismissed with a wave of his hand. Turning on his heel he grabbed a random scarf off the shelf, throwing it in his basket along with the remains of the tattered red scarf. “You’re already covering for your half. Thanks for the donation. See ya’ around, Barry.” With that he took his leave, waving a few bills he snatched from the others pocket earlier before swiftly exiting the store.

* * *

A few hours later, lying in his bed, playing with the frayed edges of the scarf, he thought long and hard about meeting Scarlet. Len knew he felt that connection, the magic pull. Isn’t that what its supposed to feel like when you meet your soulmate?

Of course, it’s just his luck that his soulmate would already belong to someone else. A stunningly gorgeous woman at that.

He balled up the scarf about to throw it across his room before pausing to stare at the red fabric. A pang of longing in his chest. With a sigh he put the scarf in his night stand drawer. Out of sight, out of mind. He hoped.

* * *

Of course, his luck could only get worse when coming back from a grocery run a few months later he finds a familiar brunette with green eyes, the bombshell, and an older man, closer to Len’s own age with a knit cap and goatee moving a series of boxes and furniture into the building.

There could be tons of empty rooms on the other floors. The empty flat next to his surely can’t be the only one available. He pulled up the collar of his jacket to cover both his face and the frayed red scarf he still hasn’t been able to throw away yet. Every time he tried something pushed him to hold on to it. Normally it was kept buried in his night table drawer, but unfortunately today he had been compelled to wear it. He cursed himself under his breath trying to keep his face turned away as he slinks through the door and climbs the stairs, just to be body slammed into the wall by blur.

“Oh, shit sorry – it’s you! You’re the guy that stole that scarf and 10 bucks from my wallet.” Vibrant, angry green locked onto ice blue eyes. Two hands gripped at Len’s shirt pushing him against the wall.

“Scarlet, good to see you again. You and the missus moving in?”

“Missus, who are you talking about? Iris? We aren’t together – she’s my foster sister!”

Len’s eyes shot up in shock. He is such an idiot. He just abandoned this guy months ago because he’s an idiot that jumped to conclusions. Lisa and Mick were right when they laughed at him about his overreaction. No time to focus on that now though. He bit down on those emotions bubbling to the surface, shoving them back into the depths.

“Is…that why you left so quickly. I didn’t even get your name or a chance to…”

“A chance to what, Barry? Ask for my number? You wanna get my apartment number while you’re at it, too?”

The signature light dusting of pink came across Barry’s cheeks. Len watched as he turned his head away and finally noticed the bit of red wool peeking under Barry’s coat. “You’re wearing the scarf…”

“Yeah, I mean, I did end up paying for half of it,” Barry replied, offering up a shy smile. The conversation tapered for a minute, but Len wasn’t ready to let this guy go just yet. He had another chance to speak to this guy again, and he wasn’t going to give it up.

“So, you and your sister, there’s gotta –

_CCCRRRAAAASSSSHHHH_ – and his moment was gone once again.

“That would be Joe – ”

“You should get back there and help them.” He pushed off the wall causing Barry to stumble back a brief few steps with him.

“Oh, yeah,” for a brief second Len thought he saw a flicker of disappointment in Barry’s eyes just before he lets go of Len’s shirt, backing away before moving back down the stairs. “I guess I’ll see you later…”

“Len, my name is Len.”

At that a blinding smile lit up Scarlet’s face. “I’ll see you later, Len.”

* * *

Barry moving in next door was one of the best and worst events to ever happen to Len. Every conversation was exhilarating, but always cut short. Each time they met, Barry always wearing that ridiculous scarf while Len buried his deeper in the nightstand. Len felt that magnetic pull, logically knew what it should mean. The pull to be towards his soulmate, that Scarlet obviously did not feel. If he did, the universe wouldn’t be conspiring to keep them apart.

Run ins at the grocery store wouldn’t be interrupted by a child puking on Lens shoes. A raccoon would not have climbed through Barry’s open kitchen window, devouring the brownies the two had baked together. Mick, Lisa, and Iris wouldn’t barge into his apartment at all hours of the day – well they would, but at least not every time he managed a few seconds alone with Barry.

In a perfect world their mail would be mixed up to force them together to exchange packages. They would pass cups of sugar or salt across the fire escape. Maybe they would bank at the same bank or go to the same dentist. Occasionally they would see each other at the pool, or a restaurant, or the bar. But life for Leonard Snart isn’t perfect.

* * *

They sat together on the fire escape. It was an ungodly time of night that no decent human should be awake at, yet there they were. Mugs of half-drunk hot chocolate were on the ground by their feet, forgotten in the moment to take in the stars. Len would occasionally hear a sniffle from his counterpart, but he could tell now that the man was calmer than before.

“So, you going to share what brought this on?” Len gestured to Barry wrapped in an obviously well used quilt. Len sat in silence waiting for Barry to respond. He wasn’t going to push him to answer now. After a brief silence Barry spoke quietly in a voice barley above a whisper but that seemed to scream at Len.

“I was eleven when mom was…taken from me. That was thirteen years ago. It’s kind of an unbelievable story actually. No one believed me when I told them what I saw. They thought I was just making up stories as a coping mechanism. To convince myself that my dad didn’t kill my mom. They were the ones that are wrong though. I know what I saw, that man in the yellow lightning killed her and my dad was wrongfully convicted.”

Len could see anger growing in Barry’s eyes as he told his story. He was right it was unbelievable. Len wasn’t sure if he believed it himself, but he trusted his gut and it told him to at least listen to Barry. He listened as Barry detailed how he would spend the day before visiting his father in Iron heights. He listened to how Barry would spend the day mourning alone to have at least one day where no one would tell him he was wrong. This explained so much about Barry, his passion for justice, his obsession with the impossible. Len knew he didn’t want to be like the others who disbelieved Barry, so he sat in companionable silence and listened.

When he knew listening would be enough, when fresh tears reformed in Barry’s eyes, Len excused himself, returning shortly with bottles of booze and a wrinkled red scarf. With a playful grin he opened a bottle to share between the two. “We’re going to need something stronger than cocoa and mini marshmallows for this,” bringing out a wet shaky laugh from Barry. Len then wiped a few tears with his part of the scarf.

They curled closer together as the liquid in the bottle got lower. Before he knew it, Len was sharing pieces of his own childhood, his own crappy upbringing. Some stories he wouldn’t even share with Lisa or Mick.

Their faces were so close together. He could feel Barry’s breath on his lips. He could just almost taste him, when his foot knocked over the forgotten mugs staining the quilt they had begun to share with dark brown. In his surprise he dropped his part of the scarf in the hot chocolate mess.

He cursed while Barry just began to laugh. Len flinched away from Barry’s hand reaching out to him. He brushed him off to begin cleaning up the mess ignoring the mess of the scarf he’ll have to clean later to pick up the mugs carelessly placing them in the kitchen sink. He took the cleaning supplies from the cabinet and set to work scrubbing the mess off the railing. Anger and humiliation blinding him to Barry’s attempts to engage him.

“I think you should go.”

“Len –”

 “Its late and obviously we’ve had too much to drink.”

“Len –”

 Leave the quilt. I’ll wash it and –”

“Stop running away from me, from this Len. I know you feel it, too. The pull to be close to one another. That we’re soulmates. I know you felt it. I’ve felt it since the first minute I met you, but every time we move closer together you push me off and run away! I wanted to be with you tonight instead of being alone like I always am! We’re supposed to be soulmates, just give me the chance to fall in love with you,” Barry shouted, the blanket falling from his shoulders where he let go of it in favor of reaching for Len’s shirt to keep him in place.

“You want to fall in love with me?” Barry had felt the connection too? He had been so sure it was one sided. That’s why Len had left, to give Barry his space. He had believed Len was trying to avoid him?

“Of course.” Barry walked around to face Len head on. Len felt his gentle hand cradle his face, and he brought his own up to meet it. “And I want you to have a chance to fall in love with me, too.”

That was already a done deal. Len knew he would fall in love with Barry when he saw the kid have the nerve to stand up to him when taking that stupid scarf from the mall.

Len had no words, simply bringing his lips to finally reach Barry in a promise. Maybe it was the booze, the high after finally tasting Barry’s lips, or the blinding brightness of Barry’s smile after they pulled away, he isn’t sure what caused it, but Len reached for his part of the scarf lost in the mangled blanket, and Barry’s, which was, as always wrapped around his neck, to tie the two broken ends together again. Barry placed his hand over Len’s that was holding the red scarf, using his other hand to lock the two of them together in another passionate kiss.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to come message me on my Tumblr [kranberry1997](https://kranberry1997.tumblr.com/)


End file.
